when all the guys are back the Wings will be ok and will make the playoffs. With all the injuries we have had i think that Babs has done a great job in keeping us competitive in all the games bar the first day blowout.

We still have 2 of our top D to come in and then another 4 forwards to choose from. If we ever get a fully fit roster then Kenny and Babs will have some difficult decisions to make. Lashoff Tatar Huskins Andersson and Mrazek have all done well but can all be sent back to GR, but will they send all off them ? Mursak hasnt really had a fair run and hell be back soon so will he be given a chance. My biggest concern is that Eaves is getting scratched alot, has he not fully recovered or has he just lost that edge and touch of speed he had. For speed alone a 3rd line of Eaves Mursak and Helm would be a big worry to other teams D.

I think the biggest problem for the wings is size and offence on the makeshift 2nd line at this moment in time. With Z Pasha and Bruns on the top line the 2nd line is a bit thin at present and as Babs has said Fil needs to step up but to be fair he needs regular linemates to do this. He had Sammy and Dan today and the 2 vets competed well but i think they hold Fil up with them not being as quick. Maybe moving Tats onto the 2nd line could help speed wise but then we lose some size on the 2nd.

Look, I still think the Wings will make the playoffs but that's what scares me. Obviously Holland would think nothing is broken and go into next season with the same roster with minor tweaks. Its almost like maybe missing the playoffs would make them rethink about their roster. After 20 years of greatness, its gonna take alot to get a stubborn Holland and Co. to really blow up the roster from older players.

Unfortunately, the biggest culprits in the recent losses are not the "green" kids from GR or the players we are missing to injury. As players get healthy, we'll start to replace young and energetic players who have been great in their replacement roles, instead of the lackluster veterans who are guaranteed roster spots under this staff. Look at tonight, we have two players rotate in, Samuelsson and Huskins for two players that have played pretty good, Nyquist and Kindl. The energy of Nyquist was replaced with Cleary 2.0.

This will continue, and while the Wings have players like Bertuzzi, Franzen, Helm, and Smith which will benefit the group, their impacts are diminished by the fact that we are not replacing the problem players but rather players who have really earned their ice time. Tatar for Bertuzzi is a wash the way Tots is playing. Smith's return will likely lead to the demotion of the steady Lashoff. The problem players like Cleary, Quincey, and White will remain.

The lineup is weak, and it won't be as simple as replacing negatives with positives, more like replacing positives with other positives. Bertuzzi (+1) replacing Tatar (+1) is a wash. If Bertuzzi (+1) was replacing Cleary (-2) that would be a completely different story (+3). That's how I think about it anyways...

Look, I still think the Wings will make the playoffs but that's what scares me. Obviously Holland would think nothing is broken and go into next season with the same roster with minor tweaks. Its almost like maybe missing the playoffs would make them rethink about their roster. After 20 years of greatness, its gonna take alot to get a stubborn Holland and Co. to really blow up the roster from older players.

The only way this roster is going to be "blown Up" is if Holland, Nill and Devellano are all fired and even then its a longshot to happen this offseason. Missing the playoffs for one season won't change the teams philosophy. The only thing that will change if the Wings do miss is that we'll get a better draft pick that will still end up playing at least 1 season in Grand Rapids before making the roster.

I don't really get why everyone thinks that getting younger is going to improve our fortunes, we have 5 rookies playing right now and the team is performing worse than when we had all the veterans playing. Other than Tatar, and Lashoff (on some nights) none of the rookies have been better than the guys they are replacing.

We just have a couple guys who are making a tremendous amount of mistakes that keep costing the team goals. Kronwall in my opinion needs to be played on the 2nd pairing, or even 3rd. He can't defend the oppositions best players and he keeps screening our own goalie. Cleary should be either in the pressbox or on the 4th line, he has no business being on the PP or anywhere near the top 6.

Who's panicking ? 15 games in. 33 to go. Keep head above water. Get healthy and go on a run. Tatar has been good. I would keep Anderson over cleary in a 3rd line roll any day of the week. Nyquist has shown me nothing really. Don't care either way on that one for now.

when all the guys are back the Wings will be ok and will make the playoffs.

Burt and Helm are out indefinitely, those two are the key to the wings making the playoffs. If they miss to much time we will struggle to be in the top 8. We can't make the playoffs in late feb/early march but we can miss them.

Who's panicking ? 15 games in. 33 to go. Keep head above water. Get healthy and go on a run. Tatar has been good. I would keep Anderson over cleary in a 3rd line roll any day of the week. Nyquist has shown me nothing really. Don't care either way on that one for now.

People are panicking because of the long-term uncertainty of this team, and the lack of tradeable assets we have. No one is saying we can't make the playoffs, it's just that no one cares. If you have Hockeytown imprinted at center ice, you should have higher goals than just making the playoffs. We made the playoffs last year and barely won a game. Who was satisfied with that?

People are still upset with Holland for doing nothing decent the last few deadlines and offseasons, and won't let it go. Now, I realize Wings fans have high expectations and are stubborn, but that's a good thing and what great franchises should be about. This is the best US based franchise in hockey history, and fans don't want it to go back into the toilet again. Fans are looking for something in the future which suggests being a frequent Cup contender. You have to remember most Wings fans on this site (myself included) have never seen this team not be one of the main contenders.

And before anyone mentions last year's Kings, or the 2006 Oilers, 2004 Flames, etc., we don't have the kind of roster that can make a playoff run as a 7 or 8 seed. You need to have a good defense and a hot goalie to do that. Or be a tough team to play against who outworks opponents every game. We're none of those things.

"Worth noting - the Wings' schedule has been buttery soft so far and gets absolutely filthy very shortly:

-The Wings have played ZERO West Coast road games this season. Today's game in Minny was the farthest West they've been.
-The Wings have five more separate West Coast road trips left to play.
-The Wings have 13 more West Coast road games to play, and one of those road trips also includes stops in Nashville and Chicago.
-The Wings have four to play against Nashville, three to play against Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver, and two to play against Anaheim.

This schedule is a buzzsaw. There's one more berry patch in early March where they play home against Colorado and Edmonton, a home and home with the Jackets, and then at Calgary and Edmonton. After that, they have 11 of 19 remaining games on the road with most of them coming on long West Coast trips."

Panic? Nope. This is what I expected this season. I thought going in we would be around .500. finish somewhere between 6th and 10th in the WC. That being said, it still sucks watching this. We are used to competing for Cups. This team is not close.

Oh well, time for bed. Bring on the preds and Go Wings!!!!!!

Correction everyone..it IS time to panic. Got this from HF Boards

"Worth noting - the Wings' schedule has been buttery soft so far and gets absolutely filthy very shortly:

-The Wings have played ZERO West Coast road games this season. Today's game in Minny was the farthest West they've been.
-The Wings have five more separate West Coast road trips left to play.
-The Wings have 13 more West Coast road games to play, and one of those road trips also includes stops in Nashville and Chicago.
-The Wings have four to play against Nashville, three to play against Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver, and two to play against Anaheim.

This schedule is a buzzsaw. There's one more berry patch in early March where they play home against Colorado and Edmonton, a home and home with the Jackets, and then at Calgary and Edmonton. After that, they have 11 of 19 remaining games on the road with most of them coming on long West Coast trips."

Time to panic indeed.

17 of the last 24 on the road. That is a tough (to quote Micky) ball busting schedule.

Panic? Nope. This is what I expected this season. I thought going in we would be around .500. finish somewhere between 6th and 10th in the WC. That being said, it still sucks watching this. We are used to competing for Cups. This team is not close.

Oh well, time for bed. Bring on the preds and Go Wings!!!!!!

17 of the last 24 on the road. That is a tough (to quote Micky) ball busting schedule.

And Dan Cleary will be on the powerplay for at least 15 of those games.

"Worth noting - the Wings' schedule has been buttery soft so far and gets absolutely filthy very shortly:

-The Wings have played ZERO West Coast road games this season. Today's game in Minny was the farthest West they've been.
-The Wings have five more separate West Coast road trips left to play.
-The Wings have 13 more West Coast road games to play, and one of those road trips also includes stops in Nashville and Chicago.
-The Wings have four to play against Nashville, three to play against Chicago, San Jose and Vancouver, and two to play against Anaheim.

This schedule is a buzzsaw. There's one more berry patch in early March where they play home against Colorado and Edmonton, a home and home with the Jackets, and then at Calgary and Edmonton. After that, they have 11 of 19 remaining games on the road with most of them coming on long West Coast trips."

Time to panic indeed.

Its true the Wings schedule gets tougher, but they've got just as many pts against the best in the conference as they do against the worst, and they've done it with a patchwork line-up of a bunch of rookies with (until recently) no goalie to spell Howard.

I'm not going to panic. This team is about what I expected so far: average and wildly inconsistent. They will probably be fighting for a playoff spot all season and won't advance far, should they get in at all.

It's somewhat easier to swallow if you can just accept that our hockey team is mediocre. Trust me, it's frustrating to admit at times personally, but I think realistically most of us saw this coming. The expectations in this city are insanely high and rightfully so given the standards of success this organization has achieved recently.

Watching Z, Datsyuk and Brunner now is fun at least. I want management to give the kids an expanded role the rest of this season to see what we have for the future. These Red Wings are not championship quality and Cleary, Samuelsson and Bertuzzi have no place in years to come. At least they shouldn't if the front office would embrace playing some prospects more.

It would be nice to see what a healthy roster could accomplish. However, I still have my doubts of their ceiling as they won one playoff game last year with Lidstrom and Stuart around. There are parts I like about this group of players, but it seems to be overall severely lacking an identity and the rest of the league has caught up or surpassed Detroit in the skill department.

This off-season will be crucial. I don't think there needs to be a complete rebuild, but some significant retooling has to take place if the Red Wings want to seriously contend in the near future again.

This off-season will be crucial. I don't think there needs to be a complete rebuild, but some significant retooling has to take place if the Red Wings want to seriously contend in the near future again.

short training camp, transistion year and very intense 48 game schedule add to that the Wings deflated roster and here we go. I really hope it doesn't matter, if this team is making the playoffs or not, a rebuild has to be started at some point. Even - which I highly highly doubt - Holland would want to keep the status quo, there is no way Babcock will accept mediocrity. Remember how he was absolut furious about the first time loss against the Predators? He was quoted saying something like: ,,Since our last Stanley Cup Final we've lost in two times in the second round and now in the first round...To me this not improving it is going downwards". This guy wants to win bad and in order to do so, it is Hollands job to give him a roster, that is capable off winning longterm, not shortterm fixes.

Freaking out after every win/loss is going to do anything other than waste adrenaline. Whatever happens happens nobody here can influence it, let's just hope we're going to see an overloaded Wingsteam in the not so distant future again.

I know it's terrible to say this but, it would be better to miss the playoffs and get a high draft pick in a short season (especially since everyone has a chance to get #1 pick this year), then to do this next year in an 82 game season.